


It was an accident, I swear!

by princessgongjunim (MyOwnCharacterInEverything)



Category: NCT (Band), 威神V (WeishenV/WayV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Getting Together, Happy Little Accidents, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 11:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20947343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOwnCharacterInEverything/pseuds/princessgongjunim
Summary: I don't think this was meant for me,the message said.Ten blinked. Once. Twice. He wasn't horrified right away. Instead, it came slowly, in three easy steps:1) There weren't two phone numbers listed at the top of the screen. There was only one.2) Another notification had popped up, this one addressed to multiple phone numbers, that read:jaehyunnie can't get off work early for my heat!!! guess taeilie-hyung is getting some extra love this time >:3c3) The last text before his nude, sent to him this morning, said,Since I can't meet you tomorrow, do you think you can come in for tutoring today?…oh.Oh.





	It was an accident, I swear!

**Author's Note:**

> Written for #W053.
> 
> Prompt: In which Ten accidentally sends his nude picture to the purest student in their class, Kun.
> 
> Pairing: Kun/Ten
> 
> Rating: General, Mature
> 
> Notes: College AU. Fluff/Humor.
> 
> Do not include: Gender swap. Angst.

This was all Johnny's fault. But in order to explain how, Ten would have to explain three things: why he didn't have any numbers saved in his phone, why he was sending (_tasteful_, mind you!) nudes to begin with, and why he even _ had _ Qian Kun's number at all.

See, last weekend had been Valentine's Day, and Ten had planned to stay in, eat a pint of ice cream, and cry his single omega ass to sleep. But because the world hated him, that wasn't what happened. Instead, fellow omega Taeyong—who brought his whippedass alpha Johnny—squeezed Ten into a bar hopping outfit and dragged him out to see Jaehyun for his birthday. Stupid Jaehyun, for being born on Valentine's Day.

Now, if Jaehyun was a single alpha, Ten probably wouldn't have minded so much. After all, at the end of the day, Ten was an omega, and he would bet his bottom dollar—no pun intended—that Jae had a nice knot. But no. Not only was Jaehyun _ not single_, he was also taken by _ three different boyfriends_, one of which was Jungwoo, and because Jungwoo’s heat was coming up soon, he _ wouldn't shut the fuck up _about how nice Jaehyun's knot was, which in turn made a tipsy Taeil start crying because didn't he "have a nice knot too?!" At least Doyoung—the only beta among them—didn't talk too much about his boyfriends' knots (sober, anyway), because Ten so did not need any more reminders that he was still single.

He would never forgive Taeyong for sinking his claws into Johnny's hot piece of ass first—well, yeah, they were childhood sweethearts that had claimed each other right out of high school, but _ that wasn't the fucking point_. The point was that Ten, despite his freewheeling tendencies, was too jealous and possessive for a polyamorous relationship. So no. He couldn't have latched onto Johnny and Taeyong, even if he wanted to.

But here's the thing: Ten could have lived with all that, if Johnny hadn't broken Ten's phone. Ten didn't even know what happened—because let's face it, they were all too shitfaced to care. But the next morning, Ten woke up to find out that not only was Johnny's ass capable of crushing self-esteems, dignities, and dreams, it was also capable of crushing phones.

Go figure.

And of course, because Johnny was an actual fucking_ crybaby_, he apologized eleventy billion times and insisted he pay for a new phone.

So that was why Ten had a wiped contacts list. He never made any moves to fix it either, since the people that texted him were mainly friends and family. Anyone else tended to DM him through Twitter or Instagram or Snapchat.

But there was one person with his number that he fucking forgot about: Qian Kun, his Mandarin tutor, and probably the most uncourtable of all the alphas on campus. He wasn’t uncourtable because he was ugly or something. In fact, Kun's pressed trousers and ironed shirts absolutely screamed _ sugar daddy_, the kind of dream that brought single omegas like Ten to their knees. No, it's just that he seemed to be far more interested in graduating than in courting anybody. Which is why Ten had pushed all hope of ever courting him out the window and focused on studying his ass off for their lessons. He could at least wow Kun with his brains instead of sucking them out his dick. Dreams didn’t come true for sad little bitches like him.

Besides, any self-respecting omega didn’t buy lingerie to seduce an alpha. They bought it because they wanted to slay the world and feel good doing it. Which was why Ten had a groupchat with Taeyong and Jungwoo: an omegas-only groupchat where they modeled their purchases for each other. And just because Ten was a sad single bitch with no boyfriend did _ not _ mean he was going to miss out on the fun.

Ten had been excited to show off his newest set, and the picture was even pretty with the morning sun and his unmade bed. The sheer bralette matched the lace boyshorts, all tied together with a suspender belt and garters, holding a pair of lace-trimmed thigh highs. It was equal parts sexy and classy, and he’d been so _ proud _ of it all that he just _ had _ to show it off.

_ I was feeling cute today_, he'd said. He then sent it to his latest text conversation, put aside his phone, and went off to make his bed and go get (completely) dressed for the day, but not without stopping to admire the lace against his skin one last time.

He'd felt so good about this morning too! The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and his eye makeup was on point. They even had his favorite order ready at the café down the street. All in all, it was a good fucking day.

At least, that's what he thought, until a text came in as he sipped his iced americano.

_ Was that meant for me? _

Ten snorted. _ Well, duh. Who else would I send it to? _

There wasn't an immediate response; in fact, Ten had even forgotten there was a conversation at all when he received the next message. By then, he was boarding the metro, and the only reason he'd checked his phone at all was to check the time.

_ I don't think this was meant for me_, the message said.

Ten blinked. Once. Twice. He wasn't horrified right away. Instead, it came slowly, in three easy steps:

  1. There weren't two phone numbers listed at the top of the screen. There was only one.
  2. Another notification had popped up, this one addressed to multiple phone numbers, that read: _jaehyunnie can't get off work early for my heat!!! guess taeilie-hyung is getting some extra love this time >:3c_
  3. The last text before his nude, sent to him this morning, said, _Since I can't meet you for tutoring tomorrow, do you think you can come in today?_

…oh. _ Oh. _

* * *

"Fuck, I can't go in today."

Xiaojun just sighed, poking his fork back into his cheesecake. "Okay, _ now _ you're just being ridiculous."

“What am I going to _ do_?” Ten wailed into the hands over his face. “I’m never going to be able to look him in the face ever again!”

“Isn't this a good thing?” Hendery asked, tilting his head like a little puppy. "I mean, isn't that how omegas score the alphas of their dreams?"

"We don't live in a fanfiction, Hendery!" But Ten couldn't exactly blame him. Hendery was a beta. His parents were betas, his sisters were betas, and he even added another beta to the family by dating Xiaojun. So fiction was probably the closest frame of reference Hendery had as to how alpha/omega dynamics worked.

Ten desperately wished he could say the same.

"But cheer up, Ten-_ge_," Xiaojun said. "At least you've got the cake tasting today, so that should be—"

"Wait, _ what_?"

Xiaojun looked surprised. "The cake tasting? For Johnny and Taeyong's wedding cake? You said you'd help them—"

_ "Fuck!" _

"Well, that too, I guess. I'm not here to judge, but like—"

"No, _ not that_," Ten hissed. "I thought that was next week!"

"You said you were okay with moving it to this week," Hendery said around the mouthful of cheesecake Xiaojun just fed him. "Johnny's rut is coming early in an attempt to sync with Taeyong's heats, remember? And you said Tuesday was the only day you could do it."

"_Fuck_," Ten hissed again, burying his face in his hands. "And I probably said yes because I don't normally meet Kun on Tuesdays. _ Fuck._"

"Well…isn't that a good thing? Because now you have a real excuse not to see him?"

"I don't know…" Ten whimpered miserably into his hands. "I actually don't know…"

“Oh my God, Ten!” a voice called suddenly. And before Ten could reply, he was suddenly being strangled by a wailing omega. “I fucked up! I’m the worst person ever—”

“Yuta-_hyung_,” Ten cut him off—mostly because Xiaojun and Hendery looked startled. “What happened this time?”

“I—” Yuta sniffled. “It’s Winwinnie. He’s been so busy lately, and I kept trying to text him last night, because I made him dinner, but he came back so late. He said his phone died, but I was really, really mad because everything was cold. And so I yelled at him, and then he left, and he… He—” Yuta gulped. “HE HASN’T COME BACK! HE’S GONNA BREAK UP WITH ME BUT HE DOESN’T KNOW HOW SO HE’S GHOSTING ME IRL—”

Ten sighed, trying not to wince from the screaming in his ear. “Yuta-_hyung_… Are you about to start your heat?”

Yuta stilled. “...no,” he mumbled, burying his head in shame into the crook of Ten’s neck. “It’s late.”

Ten sucked in a deep breath. “...do you think—?”

“No,” Yuta shook his head. “Winwinnie… We haven’t… He’s been so busy lately, so there’s no way that… I’m just hoping it’s stress or something, because I—”

“Excuse me,” Hendery said politely, “But have you tried calling him?”

“No,” Yuta pouted. “I’m… I’m scared, honestly. And I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to tell him—”

“How about this?” Ten said gently. “How about you come with me to a few bakeries today so you can think it over? Johnny and Taeyong are doing their cake tasting today, and I do _ not _ want to be thirdwheeling them by myself.” Ten glanced at his watch. “We’d have to leave in the next fifteen minutes if we want to make the train to the other side of town…”

Yuta nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll go with you. Winwinnie is the kind to come around when he’s ready anyhow. Besides”—Yuta finally straightened up to give a teary smile—“what’s better for a crying omega than eating cake, right?” Yuta laughed as he wiped away his tears. “Man, alphas are so stressful, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Ten agreed. “They are…”

_ Even when you don’t have one. Who knew? _

* * *

"Xuxi," Kun began carefully. "You're an omega…right?"

Xuxi looked up from his worksheet to stare at him. "...Kun-_ge_?"

Kun felt himself flush. "I just…" he huffed. "I don't know who else to ask. I needed someone that could listen without passing judgement—”

"Okay, that's fair.”

"—and at the very least, I know you'd wouldn't lie to me…"

Xuxi’s gaze felt like he was searching him for something, and despite Xuxi's reputation as a loudmouth social butterfly, there were times when Kun was suddenly reminded of how intelligent and insightful Xuxi _ actually _ was. On top of that, he was a psychology major, and it made Kun want to squirm under his scrutinizing gaze. Xuxi must have found what he was looking for, because after a small eternity, he just shook his head and sighed.

"Kun-_ge_…I get that your family is a little more traditional, and therefore, you don't think of courting in modern terms. But seriously: you're a single, reasonably courtable alpha—"

"Reasonably?!"

“—and you’re asking me what it means when an omega sends you a nude?”

“Well, I mean…” Kun could feel the blood rushing to his ears. “I don’t think he meant to send it to me. I think it was on accident.”

Xuxi just looked confused now. “How do you accidentally send a nude?"

“That’s what I’m wondering!” Kun huffed. “And the worst part is, I haven’t heard from him since he sent it—”

Suddenly, Kun’s phone on the table buzzed. Well, that was embarrassing. In his flustered state of mind this morning, he must have forgotten to silence it, the way he normally does for all of his tutoring sessions. He was about to dismiss it, to silence and move on with his life. But when he saw who the text was from, his heart tumbled out of his chest, splattering on the floor in a messy bundle of panic and disappointment.

_ I can’t come in today. Something came up. Sorry. _

Simple. Straight to the point. Zero acknowledgement of the nude, wrapped up in the same neutral and distant tone he and Ten had always used while texting each other. 

_ There. Isn’t the answer that you were looking for? _ Sort of. As far as Kun could tell, Ten was avoiding him while attempting to keep their relationship a professional one. And that should have been all there was to it. Except…

“He’s just ignoring it,” Kun breathed out. “It’s like he never sent it. It’s like he's just…” 

And there is it was. That quiet, thoughtful silence that scared Kun so much. Because Xuxi, as much of a mess he was sometimes, tended to follow these silences with the truths Kun was afraid of hearing.

“Kun-_ge_,” Xuxi began carefully. “Is it possible that you…actually _ wanted _ that nude to be meant for you?”

_ Did it? _ Well, it would explain why he’d been so hung up on it. But…

“I don’t have _ time _ for a relationship,” Kun found himself saying. “Between being an RA and tutoring and trying to graduate with honors—”

“Ah, but who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself?” Xuxi put his pencil down, straightened his spine, and folded his massive hands on the study table in front of them. “Look, let me tell you what the rest of the campus thinks of you. Not because I think you should care about what other people think, but because you need to hear what you look like from an outsider’s perspective.”

O…kay? Where was this going?

“You know you’re actually considered uncourtable by most of the student body?"

Kun blinked. “I am?” Because, not that Kun _ wanted _ to brag, but he knew he was handsome, intelligent, living comfortably with a promising future—

“You’re too focused on your studies,” Xuxi said. “Everyone thinks that you’d be too busy to even socialize, never mind courting you.”

“I socialize! I have friends!”

“I know that, and you know that, but think about someone like this omega of yours might think of you. Maybe he’s playing off this nude as an accident because he’s convinced you wouldn’t like that sort of thing anyway.”

Oh. Well, didn’t that leave Kun with quite the conundrum. Logically speaking, he really didn’t like the idea of a desperate omega sending him nudes, hoping for a chance at him and his money. On the other hand…

“You know what? We’re not being productive today. So why don’t we go get cupcakes?”

Kun blinked, then frowned at Xuxi. “You just want me to feed you, don’t you?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Xuxi smiled a little too innocently.

Kun sighed, but he eventually agreed. After all, what was the harm in a few cupcakes?

* * *

“You ever wonder what it’d be like?” Yuta asked dreamily. “To pick out your own wedding cake with an alpha that loves you? And wants to spend the rest of his life with you?”

Ten was beginning to regret inviting Yuta to come along with him. He’d had good intentions in trying to distract his fellow omega, but he should have realized that wedding cakes would just remind Yuta of his boyfriend.

_ Lol, his single ass couldn’t relate. _

“Yuta,” Ten said for the fourth time in just as many minutes, gently rubbing a hand between Yuta’s shoulder blades. “How much did you sleep last night?”

“I don’t know. Not a lot…” Yuta took a shaky breath, turning to hug Ten to his chest and instinctively nuzzling into Ten’s neck, where Ten’s scent gland would have been accessible if Ten hadn’t been wearing his scent collar. “But maybe I should just go home…”

Ten sighed, guiding Yuta towards the chairs in the corner of the bakery. Sitting them both down, he reached for the back of his own neck to unclasp his collar. “Here you go,” he said gently, letting the collar fall from his throat.

Yuta stiffened. “Ten,” he whispered. “Your scent collar—”

“It’s fine,” Ten replied. “The bakery has scent dampeners so you can actually smell the cakes. No one will be able to smell me unless they’re really close by. Now, relax.”

Yuta took a deep breath, breathing his fellow omega’s comforting scent. In the meantime, Ten pulled out his phone to text Sicheng. At least, he was going to, when he realized his phone’s messaging app was still open to his conversation with Kun.

There was no response to his last message, only a small blue checkmark telling him that Kun had read the message.

_ Being left on read. Now, wasn’t that a familiar feeling… _

Suddenly, the bakery door rang open, and in walked in Kun himself, along with a very tall omega from Ten’s Ethics class. Lucas, if Ten remembered correctly, though he’d heard the names Xuxi and Yukhei as well.

“Ten?” Kun looked surprised.

“Oh, um, Kun! Hi!” Ten replied. “Um, how are you do—?”

Suddenly, a loud snore tore its way into Ten’s ear. Ten winced.

Kun tilted his head—God, why was that so cute? “Isn’t that Sicheng’s omega?”

Ten tried not to bristle—Kun was known for being a little old-fashioned, after all. “His name is Yuta,” Ten defended his fellow omega. “And he didn’t exactly sleep well last night.”

To Ten’s surprise, Kun just nodded. “Sicheng stayed over at my place for the night. Did they have a fight? Sicheng wouldn’t say much, but he was gone when I woke up this morning…”

Ten wanted to tell Kun to mind his own goddamn business. Really, he did. But then—

“Kun-_ge_?” Someone from behind the counter sounded confused. “Why are you here?”

“Nice to see you too, Renjunnie,” Kun gave a playful little smirk, and Ten’s heart _ so _ did not skip a beat, absolutely not. “To my credit, I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Renjun looked at Kun, looked at Lucas, and made a small noise of realization. Then, turning around, Renjun called for, “Mark-_hyung_!”

Lucas tensed. “Renjun-_ah_, you don’t have to—”

“Yeah? What do you need—?” Mark, entering from a backroom, glanced up and immediately turned pink. “Oh. Um, hello, Lucas.”

“I didn’t think you’d be here,” Renjun said. “I thought you’d still be in tutoring with Kun-_ge_, Xuxi-_ge_. God knows you need it…”

Mark blinked. “Tutoring with Kun-_ge_?” he whispered under his breath.

Lucas just shrugged with a good-natured laugh. “I know my Mandarin isn’t that great, but I think I’m getting better!”

“Wait, Lucas…” Mark said. “You get tutored by Kun-_hyung_?”

“Well, yeah,” Lucas said sheepishly. “I grew up speaking Cantonese, so I struggle speaking Mandarin sometimes.”

Mark stared, maybe even stopped breathing for a bit. “Oh,” he said softly. “Because I…” he gave a soft embarrassed laugh. “I honestly started taking Chinese so I could talk to you. But I… I didn’t know I was taking the wrong kind of Chinese…”

Renjun looked like he wanted to make a comment, but a glare from Kun stopped him.

“That,” Lucas said, “is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.” Lucas bit his lip and looked down to stare shyly at the floor. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

“I… I would like that,” Mark replied, just as shyly. “After my shift, alright?”

“Alright.” And at Lucas’s soft look, Renjun loudly claimed that he was going to puke. Kun began scolding him, Yuta snored again, and Ten was just thankful for the distraction.

* * *

Ten knew this day would come. Not that he _ wanted _ it to happen. If anything, he’d really rather that it didn’t. But another week came and went, and there he was again, walking towards his tutoring session with Kun, dread curling in his stomach as he walked into the library. But to his surprise, Kun was out on the library’s first floor, standing next to one of the study tables fairly close to the entrance of the building. 

“Oh! There you are, Ten,” Kun said, locking his phone and putting it away. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but apparently, all the scent-cancelling study rooms are booked. I know you said you find scents distracting, so will you be okay if we study out here?"

Kun's concern was probably from a place of chivalry, seeing a poor little delicate omega overwhelmed by scents and was probably scared of alphas smelling him. But _ Ten’s _ scent wasn’t the problem. Ten always wore his scent collar, even at home. No, the problem was with Kun’s scent. Being the traditional alpha that he was, Kun never made any effort to cover his scent. Once upon a time, it was customary for alphas to flaunt their scents like badges of honor. Fast forward to the modern day, and even now, more often than not, alphas made no effort to even lessen the intensity of their scents.

When Ten had said that scents were distracting, it wasn't a complete lie. But it wasn’t _ other _ people’s scents that bothered him. It was Kun’s. _ Just _ Kun’s. Kun and his stupid fucking dark chocolate and coffee scent, it was _ so hard _ to concentrate with mocha burning in his nostrils. It sent his instincts into overdrive, the urge to climb in Kun’s lap and bury his face in his neck was almost unbearable.

But if high school had taught Ten _ anything_, it was that desperation only brought disappointment and drama. So Ten just sucked it up and agreed to study out in the open. Because Mama didn’t raise a quitter, but she did raise a stubborn idiot or two.

And surprisingly enough, the study session went fine. Ten struggled a bit, but Kun seemed to think it was because of the noisier ambience and the lingering scents in the open space. In reality, Ten was thankful for all that extra stuff, because it not only diluted Kun’s scent, but it also helped to remind Ten that they were in public. (Because God knew, Ten was not an exhibitionist. Not like Taeyong and Johnny, the kinkyass freaks.)

Then it all came crashing down when suddenly, Winwin burst into the library.

“Where is he?” he snarled, and the muscles in Ten’s shoulders tightened. Because Winwin didn’t sound like himself at _ all_.

“Sicheng?” Kun called out to his friend. “Are you okay?”

Unfortunately, that didn’t help at all, because Winwin just whirled on him and snarled again, settling into a traditional alpha fighting stance. Long gone were the days of territory and pack wars, but the instinct to posture was still alive in every alpha.

Which in turn meant that Kun was bristling in response. “Sicheng—”

“_Where is he?!_” Winwin snapped. “Are you hiding him from me?!”

“_Lower your voice, we are in a library_—”

Suddenly, Winwin rushed at Kun, grabbing his shirt collar and shaking the other alpha. “_I said tell me where he is!_” he roared. And instead of staying calm, Kun instinctively bared his teeth and gripped at the offensive wrists, growling back at the challenge of space.

This was bad. At this rate, they were going to get kicked out of the library because of their primal alpha stupidity. And so, Ten reached behind his neck and took off his scent collar, setting it down rolling up his sleeves. Rubbing the scent glands on his wrists against the ones on his neck, he took a deep breath, waiting for the collar’s cancellation effects to leave him completely. Steeling himself, he strutted up to the growling alphas and shoved his wrist in their faces.

It worked. Winwin’s apparent tunnel vision broke long enough for him to get a hold of himself. Blinking rapidly, Winwin quickly let go of Kun and grabbed onto Ten, burying his face into Ten’s neck and breathing in his friend’s scent. Kun, meanwhile, looked so startled that he jumped back several feet away from them, doubling over and clapping both his hands over his nose.

_ That totally didn’t sting at all_.

But Ten had bigger problems than his bruised ego. Right now, he had Winwin, who was currently scenting the crap out of Ten, probably in an effort to distract himself. And Ten could smell why: one whiff of Winwin’s scent, and Ten was hit with a wave of pre-rut.

_ Aw, shit. _

“Okay, okay, okay,” Ten said quickly, adjusting his stance to support Winwin’s sudden weight. “Let’s get you over to Yuta’s place, shall we?”

A whimper and a tiny nod against his neck was the only response that Ten got.

* * *

Ten felt like he was burning. Not because of the alpha back-hugging him and breathing into his clavicle. No, it was the _ other _ alpha standing close by, the one staring holes into the back of Ten’s neck. So intensely, in fact, that Ten didn’t even have to turn around to look at him. Because Kun really was, for some reason, struggling. His jaw was clenched, his brow was furrowed, and his knuckles were white they tried to strangle one of the metro poles. And if that wasn’t enough, Kun’s stupid mocha scent had flooded the public metro and threatened to choke them all to death. The little kids were whining, the schoolgirls covered their faces, and even the _ ahjussi _ across the way from them was wrinkling his nose.

Ten leaned into Winwin, breathing in his dance partner’s familiar strawberry scent. The only good thing about Kun’s sudden loss of control was that it covered both Winwin’s pre-rut and the fact that Ten wasn’t wearing his scent collar.

“He’s marking his territory,” Winwin whispered.

Ten blinked. “_What?_” he whispered back.

“Somehow, I don’t think he likes how close we are.”

Now Ten was frowning. “Sicheng, we dance together. We’ve squeezed each other into leotards. _ We’ve seen each other naked_, for God’s sake—”

“Whatever you do, Ten, _ do not tell him about that part_.”

A sudden snarl sliced through the air, and a shiver ran down Ten’s spine. Winwin squeezed Ten closer, and Ten squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that he wouldn’t suffocate before they made it to their stop.

Thankfully, the rest of the way to Yuta's apartment was uneventful. No one bothered them in the street, a tenant recognized Winwin and let them in, and the hallways were blessedly empty. But upon their arrival at Yuta’s apartment, there came a wave of omega sweetness. It was far more cloying than Ten was used to, especially since Yuta, who normally smelt like green tea cake, didn’t have all that sweet of a scent.

_ Yuta was in heat. _

It seemed that the two alphas with Ten agreed with that assessment, because suddenly, Winwin was clawing at the door while Kun pulled his shirt over his nose.

A frantic crash from inside the apartment, and the door flung open, revealing a rumpled and panting, wide-eyed Yuta.

“Chengie?” he whispered.

“Yuyu,” Winwin whispered back. And with that, he flung himself at Yuta, burying his nose in Yuta’s neck. “I’m sorry,” he squeaked. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m _ so sorry_—”

Yuta simply clutched Winwin to his chest and scented him back. “It’s okay,” he whispered again, as they stumbled into the apartment. “You’re here now.”

Winwin inhaled deeply and stiffened. “Are you…in heat? I thought that was supposed to happen last—”

“I have a theory about that, actually,” Yuta replied. “I think my heat is trying to sync with your rut.”

Winwin lifted his head to stare back at Yuta, and Ten decided that this was a good time to close and lock the apartment door behind them. Synced cycles, after all, were a significant sign in any relationship. That conversation was not meant to have an audience.

* * *

It was eerily quiet, and somewhere above the last vestiges of his alpha haze, Kun could hear Ten walking away from Yuta’s apartment door. Ten must have realized that Kun wasn’t anywhere near him, and instead, Kun was standing more towards the end of the hall, still covering his nose.

_ Damn instincts, _ Kun cursed. He was better than this.

“I closed the door, you know,” Ten started saying while he was still a bit of a distance from Kun. “The coast is clear. The heat scent should mostly be gone—” Ten stopped suddenly, realizing that with every step Ten took forward, Kun was taking a few back. “Kun? Are you okay?”

“Just…stay back, please, Ten,” Kun replied, still backing away. “I just… Your smell?”

Ten, albeit subtly, bristled. “What’s wrong with my scent?”

“Well, I mean,” Kun coughed a little. “It’s just…kind of…_ overpowering_, right now.”

A little self-consciously, Ten sniffed at his shirt. “I mean, yeah,” he agreed, wrinkling his nose a bit. “Ugh, most of this is Winwin’s pre-rut—”

“That’s—” Kun felt frustrated all of a sudden. “That’s the problem. It smells bad. It smells—” Kun cut himself off again, his nails digging into his clenched fists.

“Smells what?”

“..._ wrong_. It’s smells _ wrong_, and I don’t know why.”

Ten looked confused. “You’ve never complained about Winwin’s scent before—”

“But it’s _ on _ you,” Kun hissed. “It smells _ weird _ on _ you_.”

Ten blinked. Once. Twice. Then, for some reason, Ten stuck his wrist out towards Kun.

“Be honest, Kun. What do I smell like?”

(Kun’s heart wasn’t pounding as he took a baby step and leaned a bit forward to take a few tentative sniffs. Of course not. Why would it be?)

“Tea,” Kun said softly, like he was afraid of breaking something. “You smell like tea.”

“Chamomile,” Ten replied. “Yeah, I’ve been told—”

“But that’s not the end of it!” Kun exclaimed again, suddenly grabbing Ten’s wrist and pulling him closer. “It’s the way your scent mixes _ with _ Sicheng’s. It smells too”—Kun was sniffing harder and for longer—“too”—Kun was pushing himself closer—“too…”

Ten gulped. “Too close,” he whispered.

Kun’s eyes shot open—when had he closed them?—and he suddenly realized what he was doing. He was pinning Ten to the wall: his hand full of Ten’s shirt and his nose buried into Ten’s collarbone. Loosening his grip and slowly lifting his head, he nervously met Ten’s gaze.

“What just happened?” Kun whispered.

Ten’s lips were pressed into a tight line. “Well, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were rescenting me.”

“Oh,” Kun whispered again. Then, awkwardly clearing his throat, he pushed himself off of Ten. “I’m sorry. That was absolutely unacceptable behavior—”

“Kun,” Ten just sounded frustrated now. “Do you think I would have just let you do that to me if I wasn’t okay with it?”

Well, on the one hand, it was common for omegas to take self-defense classes, to the point where it was a common bonding activity and even a place to meet new friends. On another hand, he still should have known better than to behave in such a depraved manner—

“God, I can just hear you overthinking it,” Ten rolled his eyes. “Look, just answer me this one thing.”

And suddenly, Kun was scared all over again. “What is it?”

“Are you okay with me smelling like another alpha?”

Oh God. What kind of answer was he supposed to give? He didn’t want to insult Ten, but he wasn’t sure if the correct answer was a polite one—

“I want an honest answer, Kun,” Ten said patiently. “I don’t want the right answer. Just an honest one.”

Kun looked back at Ten, lifting his gaze from where he was staring at the floor.

"No," he said softly, cupping Ten's face. "No, I'm not."

Ten's answering smile was gentle. Reassuring. "Thank you for being honest with me," he replied, and then he kissed him.

* * *

In the weeks that followed, life was surprisingly easy for Kun and Ten. Kun, being the traditional alpha he was, made a formal request to start courting Ten. Ten had rolled his eyes at the gesture, but at least Kun didn’t get Ten’s parents involved or something.

From there, Ten was pleasantly surprised at how much of a gentlemanly—that is, hands-off—alpha Kun was.

When Ten asked about it, Kun actually looked embarrassed.

“Well, I mean! It's just that… Did you mean to send me that nude? All those weeks ago?”

Ten blinked. “I mean, no, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“The fact that it wasn’t on purpose!” Kun replied. “Just because I’ve seen you in your underwear doesn’t mean you want me to _ do _anything—”

Ten rolled his eyes and shut Kun up with a kiss. “Look, Kun. You’re smart. You’re hot. You’re good at cooking and amazing with kids. Of course I want you to touch me.”

Kun stared, and Ten could practically see the questions in Kun’s eyes. Ten sighed and pulled out his phone.

"Here. I'm about to show you something. It's nothing bad, and just as a disclaimer, Johnny knows about this group chat, and Jungwoo's harem knows too."

Kun snorted, though he was still a little tense. “You don’t have to show me anything—”

“Qian Kun,” Ten said patiently. “Don’t you know by now that I never do anything I don’t want to do?”

“Well…If you’re sure you’re okay with it…” And so Kun leaned into Ten, letting Ten show him the infamous omega group chat.

“The current debate is what color Taeyong’s wedding lingerie will be,” Ten commented as he scrolled through the chat. “His initial idea was something skin colored or pastel pink so it doesn’t show through his wedding outfit. But Jungwoo thinks he should go for something bolder. Sexier. Like red or black.”

Kun tilted his head with careful interest. “And what do you think?”

Ten thought for a second. “I think Taeyong is trying to match his lingerie to the wrong thing. Instead of trying to make blend in with his skin, he could go with white to match his wedding clothes.”

He’d half-expected Kun to judge him for overthinking such a thing, but to his surprise, Kun simply nodded. “That makes sense. Though, I’m sure Johnny would appreciate anything Taeyong is wearing.”

“That’s true,” Ten wrinkled his nose. “Those two are so in love with each other, it’s like we’re still in high school.”

“They claimed each other as soon as they graduated high school, yes?”

“Yeah, and now they’re getting married right out of college. Crazy, right? They can’t wait for anything, I guess. If they had it their way, they’d probably have at least two pups right now.”

“They’re very lucky,” Kun said. Then, reaching over the phone still in Ten’s grip, he scrolled down to a few more pictures, squinting at the person in a group of selfies. “Is that Xuxi?”

Ten laughed. “Jungwoo took him out shopping. Jungwoo was really excited about it. He’s always excited to bond with more omegas.”

“Ah, well, it looks as though Xuxi had fun as well. Which, I’m happy for him. A lot of people assume he’s an alpha, so he doesn’t have very many omega friends.”

Ten couldn’t help but shiver a little. “That really isn’t healthy. We omegas need each other. I can’t imagine being without Taeyong through the hell that was high school.”

“He at least had Yangyang, and thankfully, his classmate Donghyuck befriended him as soon as they met, but I wholeheartedly agree: the boy needs more omegas in his life.”

“I’ll have to take him out to lunch then. If he’s seeing Mark, then we’re definitely going to see more of him.”

Kun scrolled a little further, then stopped, taken aback by the sudden appearance of a girl. “Who is this?” he asked.

“Speaking of future in-laws,” Ten muttered, “this is Julie. Johnny’s mom had trouble conceiving, and Johnny really wanted a sibling, so they adopted Julie.”

“Huh,” Kun said. “I didn’t know Johnny had a sister.”

“To be fair, she hasn’t been hanging around campus lately,” Ten rolled his eyes. “Most of her time these days is spent helping out with the wedding preparations. Apparently, there’s some alpha she’s trying to make jealous, and I guess part of that was Taeyong taking her lingerie shopping. To bond as future siblings-in-law, I guess. Even though Taeyong’s known Julie since her adoption. I don’t know, I don’t pretend to understand her.”

“Who exactly was she courting?”

“I mean, courting is a strong word for it. It’s more like they like each other, but he’s too shy to formally ask her out or something. But it’s Jeon Jungkook. You know, that dance prodigy vlogger guy? Apparently, his rut is coming up. Which I only know because half the girls on campus keep talking about it. Which, you know, first of all, is super creepy…”

Kun hummed thoughtfully. “Perhaps Julie should ask Jungkook to the wedding as her plus one.”

“Nah, she’s too stubborn for something as simple as that. I’m guessing she has something bigger than that planned.”

Silence fell between them, and Ten turned to see Kun looking pensive.

“But what about you?” Kun asked. “What sort of romantic gestures do you prefer? Would you like something dramatic as moving through a heat or a rut? Or…would you like to be taken to a public event first?”

The corners of Ten’s lip twitched upwards. “Kun, if this is your way of saying you want to come to the wedding, you can just say so.”

Kun turned an adorable shade of pink. “I mean, again, it’s up to you…”

Ten just chuckled and kissed Kun once more. “Qian Kun, I would love to have you as my plus-one. Silly alpha.”

But he was Ten’s silly alpha. And that was all that mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> i literally don't think this is any good... but here.
> 
> /////////
> 
> Questions? Comments? Concerns? Send them to my [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/princessgongju1)!  
A link to my ko-fi page can also be found in my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/princessgongju1) bio!  
Thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you in the next one!


End file.
